ISSUE DATE: April 26, 2021
UPDATED: April 17, 2021 14:27 IST
Procurement time, Wheat being loaded onto a truck at a mandi
in Amritsar during the Covid lockdown, May 2020
Faced with pressure from the Centre, Punjab is moving towards direct benefit transfer (DBT) to farmers for grain procured for the national granary this season. Fifteen other states that procure grain and other agricultural produce for central agencies, too, have started paying farmers directly or have agreed in principle to do so. This replaces the age-old system of paying farmers through ‘arthiyas’ or procurement agents.
Arthiyas facilitate trade in APMC (Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee) mandis for a fee. In Punjab, the total market charges for trade in agricultural produce is about 9.5 per cent of the crop value, including the 2.5 per cent commission paid to arthiyas. The state’s farmer unions, which are agitating against the new central farm laws, want the arthiya system to continue.